Sorry this is so incredibly long with lots of details-I did that for myself but figured you would all want to read it as well so... I hope you don't get bored! :) (Videos will come at a later time.)
Well the story really starts (from my perspective) Monday night after FHE when Carrie asked me if on Wednesday I wanted to do something fun like go out for ice cream or something just to take a break from homework because she had been so stressed. I accepted her offer but said maybe not ice cream since my tummy hasn’t been liking it lately. I was excited and went to bed. Then on Tuesday sometime after classes Kelsee came in to talk to us and Carrie asked her if she wanted to join us on Wednesday and I had the idea that we should go to Gringo’s for chips and salsa, fried ice cream, and sopopia (no idea how you spell that). Kelsee was excited and the time was set 6:00 p.m. Then Wednesday comes. I woke up and started getting ready. I picked out my clothes my new white and yellow stripe shade shirt, white undershirt, gray sweater. I was going to get dressed in the bathroom and then ran back into my bedroom and grabbed my black undershirt as I exclaimed “wardrobe change.” I finished getting ready, including having Kelsee help me put on the necklace that Jared had given me and went to class. During my break that day from 12:30-2:00 I felt like everything just kept making the day better. I had one test score raised 4% and another raised 5%. Then I got on and found out that I was accepted into my application only class for winter and they only accept 9 girls. Then I went to New Testament and it was really good. I went to get tickets for a concert and that didn’t work out as planned but I had had such a good day and was counting down the hours until Thursday when I would get to see Jared. My class had been canceled on Friday and so I was going to surprise my parents and be home Thursday by 3 instead of Friday afternoon. I walked home with Felicia and we saw a guy from our ward and he was walking really funny so we laughed about that on our way home and were sharing how the day was so great and enjoying the beauty of the falling leaves on campus. It was so nice outside on Wednesday. I got home from class and was doing a bunch of stuff but nothing in particular because I just wanted a break from homework. I tried to call Jared but he text me and told me that he was in class and would be out soon-I had forgot that it was Wednesday and he didn’t have his break from 3-5. So I decided to blog about my great day-blog post “Another Great Day at BYU-Idaho.” I talked to Jared for a few minutes at 4:15 when he was “out of class,” but let him go so that he could “drive home.” Then I painted my nails because they are so long and I can’t stand it when nail polish is chipping. After that I was just enjoying being in a good mood and my roommates so I still hadn’t done any homework. I was in my room and at 5:45 Carrie said that we should just go then so I told Kelsee and invited Felica and Kailee to come and asked Nicole again if she wanted to come but she said she couldn’t. I hurried and fixed my hair and makeup and then we started to watch videography from a few weddings that my roommates and I have been loving watching (these videos) lately. We were able to watch a bit of them but they wouldn’t load all the way so finally we grabbed our coats and left. As we walked out of our apartment I asked if someone had a camera and they said that they did. This is one of the few times I didn’t grab a purse but was just holding my wallet and phone, no coat even. As I got into the hall I saw Kylee Egbert in the lounge sitting by the phone, she had a camera in her hand and started running up the stairs as she said hi to me. That put me in the back of my roommates as we headed out the back door to the patio. I was looking to the left and heard someone playing their guitar.
I glanced over and then immediately did a double take. “JARED? Is Jared really here? He had class,” were my thoughts. I started shaking immediately. I was so shocked! He was sitting on a barstool strumming away on his guitar with his guitar case open in front of him, and a ring box inside, he was even wearing jeans and his pink polo-he had thought this all through! I had stopped 10 feet away from him and out of the corner of my eye I saw my roommates exiting the scene. I heard windows open on either side of us as he continued to strum away and I slowly walked towards him. My thoughts still were “is he really here?”
And he asked me if I was going to let him sing his song. I told him that I would and so he started to play and sing a song that he wrote for me. I heard one or two words every few lines, but my mind was going crazy. Honestly I didn’t think it would ever end. I looked around and someone waved to me from the living room window in apartment 8, I couldn’t tell who it was but I could see a camera and the person waved.
Then I looked towards the lounge and saw a bunch of people including my roommates with cameras. I couldn’t move during his entire song. I just stood there thinking “is this really real?” At one point in his song I heard another window open and a girl say “I think they are getting engaged!”
Jared finished his song, gently put his guitar case down and picked up the ring box and walked towards me.
He got down on one knee and opened the box and asked me to marry him. I don’t remember his exact wording, but I said YES without hesitation.
I put my hand out and let him put the ring on my finger.
He stood up and we hugged. He gave me a short kiss and the doors burst open with a bunch of screaming/clapping girls running out to hug me.
I don’t even know who all came out to hug me- Micah for sure, I think Lindsey Henneke was also there. Ashley Balmforth came out and did a little dance as she exclaimed “and you have it all on tape!” It had been her from apartment 8 that was recording it. Apparently she came home from work and saw him and asked him what he was doing so she recorded it. J Thanks Ash. Jared and I went into my apartment so I could pack the few things that I needed because we were headed to Shelley-he told me that my mom had already worked it out for me to ride back up with Sister Toy in the morning. I got into my apartment and was surrounded by hugs from my roommates. It was one big group hug. I don’t know exactly how the next 20-30 minutes went, I couldn’t think straight. I know that I was trying to pack and didn’t know what I needed. At one point I was in my room with 10 other girls who were all laughing at me because I couldn’t think straight. Jared ran and got 4 pizzas to pay up to my roommates. Then we headed back out to the patio and it was time for a photo shoot. Roommate pictures, past room- roommate pictures, and of course Jared and I. After we took pictures I ran and told a few people before we left and then we headed to the car. We got into the car and the very last part of Love Story was on the radio “I talked to your dad go pick out a white dress it’s a love story baby just say yes…. Cause we were both young when I first saw you.” J I am a happy girl! I felt like I had been attacked from perma-smile because I couldn’t stop. Immediately I called my mom as we headed home and talked to her, then I called his parents. His dad answered the phone and I asked him if it was ok if I married his son. He responded with “My son? My son? You want to marry my son? Which one? I have two? Jordan? He’s already married! Oh Jared? I guess if you want to!” Then I got to talk to Julie and we told her we were headed to Shelley. I called a few more people on the way home to tell them and then we just talked for a bit, we got to Shelley and I was met by Parker and Julia being scary. It was so good to have all of my family there when we got there. It made me so happy! I got to meet Parley even! We went and visited grandma and headed to Jared’s to see his family. Everyone was so excited for us and that made us even happier!
Throughout the course of the next few days I found out a few things:
· Jared had been plotting with Carrie and Kelsee for about 2 weeks.
- · The reason he had taken his signature off of his texts was so if I was looking at Kelsee’s phone I wouldn’t know that they had been texting.
- · Cahlin had been giving him guitar lessons so that he could get better since he had surprised me for my birthday and learned for me.
We are getting married on the 9th of April in the Rexburg, Idaho temple. Our sealer will be Brother Brent Kinghorn who was recently released from the temple presidency. He is my old roommate Ashley Bedke’s grandpa and is an amazing man. It is amazing sometimes how everything just falls into place. The Lord truly knows what is best for us and when it is right in our lives. (Yes I am not winning the $500 bet with Alicia, but I am perfectly ok with that!) I am so thankful that I was able to place my trust in him let everything fall into place in my life. I am so happy to be marrying my Best Friend. Jared is amazing-I am sure you all know that from being around him. While we might not completely understand the series of events that happened in April we know that this is the path that was intended for us. As we continue to place our lives in the Lord's hands and do what we are asked we know that we will continue to be blessed.
The reason we picked April 9 is because of schooling. I will finish my winter semester on the 8th, but Jared will still be in school. He will skip the next week of classes-his review days and then I will go back to school on the 12 for Spring semester. That week he will have to go back to BYU to take his finals but then he will be done for the summer. I will be in school until July while he works. I will walk at the end of spring semester because in the fall I will be student teaching in South Salt Lake-hopefully in the same district as his Aunt Julie. J We will make our home somewhere in between Provo and Salt Lake for at least that semester. When I was telling my Uncle Paul the reasoning he said "Oh, you had no idea it was your grandparent's anniversary then?" I told him that hadn't even crossed my mind but it made me really excited. I have a new favorite song as well that I have been listening to all of the time lately-or singing if it isn’t playing click here to listen to it! J Enjoy the Journey.
